1938 in literature
The year 1938 in literature involved some significant events and new books. Events * The trilogy, U.S.A. by John Dos Passos, is published containing his three novels The 42nd Parallel (1930), 1919 (1932), and The Big Money (1936). *Jorge Luis Borges is injured in an accident and develops blood poisoning in December. While recovering next year he will write the first short story in his later characteristic style. *Samuel Beckett's first completed novel Murphy is published. * Avant-garde musician and theoretician Pierre Schaeffer begins his writing career as an essayist for a number of French musical journals. New books *Margery Allingham - The Fashion in Shrouds *Eric Ambler **''Cause for Alarm'' **''Epitaph for a Spy'' *Vladimir Bartol - Alamut *Elizabeth Bowen - The Death of the Heart *Edgar Rice Burroughs - Tarzan and the Forbidden City *Taylor Caldwell - Dynasty of Death *John Dickson Carr **''The Four False Weapons, Being the Return of Bencolin **''To Wake the Dead'' **''The Crooked Hinge'' **''The Judas Window'' (as by Carter Dickson) **''Death in Five Boxes'' (as by Carter Dickson) *Peter Cheyney - Can Ladies Kill? *Agatha Christie **''Hercule Poirot's Christmas'' **''Appointment with Death'' *René Daumal - A Night of Serious Drinking *John Dos Passos - U.S.A. trilogy *Daphne du Maurier - Rebecca *Lawrence Durrell - The Black Book *Rachel Field - All This and Heaven Too *Robert Graves - Count Belisarius *Graham Greene - Brighton Rock *Eric Knight - Lassie Come-Home *Emilio Lussu - Un anno sull'altopiano *C. S. Lewis - Out of the Silent Planet *Henry Miller - Tropic of Capricorn *Vladimir Nabokov **''The Gift'' **''Invitation to a Beheading'' *John O'Hara - Hope of Heaven *Ellery Queen **''The Devil to Pay'' **''The Four of Hearts'' *Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings - The Yearling *Clayton Rawson - Death from a Top Hat *Ayn Rand - Anthem *Jean-Paul Sartre - La Nausée *Kate Seredy - The White Stag *Esphyr Slobodkina - Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business *Rex Stout - Too Many Cooks *Phoebe Atwood Taylor **''The Annulet of Gilt'' **''Banbury Bog'' **''The Cut Direct'' (as by Alice Tilton) **''Murder at the New York World's Fair'' (as by Freeman Dana) *B. Traven - The Bridge in the Jungle *S.S. Van Dine - The Gracie Allen Murder Case *Evelyn Waugh - Scoop *T.H. White - The Sword in the Stone *Gale Wilhelm - Torchlight to Valhalla *Virginia Woolf - Three Guineas New drama *Jean Anouilh - Thieves' Carnival *Robert Ardrey - Casey Jones *Patrick Hamilton - Gas Light *Kaj Munk - Han sidder ved Smeltediglen *Robert E. Sherwood - Abe Lincoln in Illinois *Rodolfo Usigli - The Gesticulator *Thornton Wilder - Our Town *Emlyn Williams - The Corn is Green Poetry *Alfred Kreymborg - The Planets: A Modern Allegory (radio play in verse) Non-fiction *Hall Caine - Life of Christ *Cyril Connolly - Enemies of Promise *Geoffrey Faber - The Romance of a Bookshop 1904-1938 *Elie Halévy - The Era of Tyrannies *Jomo Kenyatta - Facing Mount Kenya *Robert McAlmon - Being Geniuses Together, 1920-1930 *Thomas Mann - The Coming Victory of Democracy *George Orwell - Homage to Catalonia Births *January 5 - Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (also known as James Ngigi), Kenyan novelist *February 12 - Judy Blume, children's author *April 29 - Larry Niven, sci-fi author *May 13 - Norma Klein, author *July 19 **Nicholas Bethell, historian **Dom Moraes, poet and columnist *October 12 - Anne Perry, historical novelist *October 13 - Hugo Young, journalist *December 14 - Leonardo Boff, philosopher and theologian *''date unknown'' **Christopher Booker, journalist and editor **Charles L. Mee, dramatist **M.K. Wren, novelist Deaths *January 19 - Branislav Nušić, novelist and dramatist *March 1 - Gabriele D'Annunzio, poet and novelist *April 19 - Sir Henry Newbolt, poet *April 21 - Lady Ottoline Morrell, literary hostess *May 26 - James Forbes, dramatist and screenwriter *June 26 - James Weldon Johnson *'June 26' - E.V. Lucas, essayist and biographer *August 7 - Konstantin Stanislavski, theatre director *September 15 - Thomas Wolfe, novelist *December 25 - Karel Čapek, science fiction author and dramatist *November 10 - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of Turkey . Awards * Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Noel Streatfeild, The Circus Is Coming * Hawthornden Prize - David Jones for In Parenthesis * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: C. S. Forester, A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Sir Edmund Chambers, Samuel Taylor Coleridge * Newbery Medal for children's literature: Kate Seredy, The White Stag * Newdigate prize: Michael Thwaites * Nobel Prize for literature: Pearl S. Buck * Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Thornton Wilder, Our Town * Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Marya Zaturenska: Cold Morning Sky * Pulitzer Prize for the Novel: John Phillips Marquand - The Late George Apley Alysha Hobbs- How the Grinch Stole Christmas * Category:Years in literature Category:History of literature Category:Literature by year